Sharing memories and making friends over tea
IT’S an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia Sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Asia.
After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world.
Of course, we are talking about tea - a beloved, traditional English drink.
Based on the ritual of tea-drinking, Tea Time Traditions is a year-long project by the Rochdale Pioneers, which will be launched on June 17.
I met Rochdale sisters Dr Aysha Roohi and Shamila Irim, the volunteers behind the project, to find out more.
They told me: “There are some segregated communities in Rochdale, but the common denominator is tea. It brings people together.
“There are many different rituals around tea.
“No matter what community you are from in the UK, tea is ingrained in the culture, like complaining about the weather.
“We are volunteers for the museum. Over the next 12 months we want to go to different community centres with a pop-up tea shop, encourage people to make their own teas and share their stories about how they make tea, bring in hand-written recipes and any memorabilia such as old tea pots their grandparents used, so we can photograph them and use them in an exhibition.”
Aysha and Shamila spent time studying and working away from Rochdale.
They said: “Upon our return, we have noticed the increase in levels of deprivation and segregation in the town.
“The lack of opportunities, reduced social mobility and health inequalities are shocking.”
Aysha spent more than six years working and studying in Cambridge, where she obtained a PhD in pathology.
She said: “I am excited to be involved in community engagement projects that bring different communities together and celebrate the things we have in common. I’m not a tea drinker but I do love the social atmosphere and the cake and biscuits.”
Shamila studied in Manchester and worked as a researcher in Cheshire before moving to Korea to teach.
She said: “I am a huge tea enthusiast and my travels led to many tea adventures – some more successful than others.
“I can’t tell you what my favourite tea is because that would be like asking a parent to choose their favourite child!”